The body charged with protecting the interests of the mentally incapacitated has defended itself against a blogger’s claim that it spends £26,000 a year on fresh fruit and anti-bacterial hand gel for its 500 staff.

Claims of public sector extravagance were published by Susanne Cameron-Blackie, writing under the pseudonym of ‘Anna Raccoon’, after submitting a freedom of information request to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG).

An OPG spokeswoman said: ‘A number of measures were introduced to help improve the health and well-being of staff at the OPG, and the number of days lost to staff sickness fell the following year after their introduction. This policy will be kept under review, and we will continue to look for ways to ensure our department is as efficient as possible.’

The OPG protects people who lack mental capacity. It maintains registers of lasting and enduring powers of attorney, and of court orders appointing deputies. The OPG’s cost to the public purse rose by around 86% last year, from £22m to £40m. The number of absence days fell by 24% to 2,372 in 2009/10, a reduction of 535 days over the previous year.